Misty smoked her ACL.
can anyone offer any experience or insight, success of failure on suture repair to the ligament VS full TPLO beside 3 times the cost? This is for a large breed active 3 yo BMC.
Thanks.
John

Really sorry to hear about her injury. I think it is way more common of an injury then ever before. Seems like I'm hearing it more and more. Our Golden passed about 4 months ago. When she was six she smoked her ACL. We paid for the best repair available. I can't remember now exactly what it was but it was the expensive option at the time. She was fine after and made a full recovery. About a year later she tore the other one. Same thing that time. Expensive option. I was really worried how she would deal with the other one. However I think she knew what was in store and she seemed to know exactly what she needed to do to get better. She again made a full recovery and for a seven year old she got around like nothing had ever happened. We tired to keep her from pushing it to much after she recovered but she was not having it. Never had another problem.

My parents Golden is actually going through the recovery process right now. He is a few months out of surgery and is moving around really well. Also a middle aged dog, who will probably have to have a less active lifestyle. It sounds like the hardest part (other than cost) was keeping the dog quiet and contained for the first six weeks post surgery. I'm happy to connect you to them if you're interested in their experience/details.

My 95lb malamute had the full TTA after she fully tore her ACL. The cost is high, but it all depends on your financial situation/dogs age/etc. I am glad we did it, even though it was A LOT of work right out of the gate. The hardest part we had was the first day after the surgery and the dog being in a lot of pain - they give you some pretty strong painkillers which help, but the dog will be hurting when the next dose is due for a while.

The second most challenging part was getting her to go to the bathroom for the first time after the surgery, they will have you either use a bedsheet or a specifically made sling to hold up the dogs rear end and to keep all the weight off of the leg. The will eventually get use to it, but figuring it out that first time is not the easiest thing. For our sling, I started using a bedsheet, but then switched to using a firewood sling - the firewood sling was AWESOME (and cheap) compared to the slings they try to sell for $60+.

Overall, I am very happy with getting it done. The dog made a full recovery and is as active as she use to be. The recovery process is very involved with PT, and if you stick to it the dog will do great.

I had a German Shepard mix (she has since passed), but she had a TPLO in both hind legs, about 4 years apart. Our vet recommended the TPLO because she was a larger breed. She said the suture repairs usually don't last in the bigger dogs, particularly if they are really active. It is expensive, but IMO, the dog had a better quality of life with that type of surgery. She was able to go back to her active lifestyle after she healed.

I agree with what Sinko said about the slings. We had a cheap one the first operation and it worked great. My wife decided to upgrade after the second surgery, but we quit using it after about the second time. We went back to the cheap one.